Jordan Spieth: Golfer so over Masters meltdown at Augusta

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Photos:What a shot! 29 amazing sports photos

Jordan Spieth waits to putt on the last hole of the Masters tournament on Sunday, April 10. Spieth, the defending champion, was comfortably in the lead until the 12th hole, when he hit the ball into the water twice and finished with a quadruple-bogey. He would go on to finish second behind Danny Willett. See more photos from the Masters

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Photos:What a shot! 29 amazing sports photos

Manny Pacquiao lands a left to the chin of Timothy Bradley Jr. during their welterweight fight in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 9. Pacquiao won a unanimous decision in what he said was the final fight of his career.

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Colorado rookie Trevor Story crosses home plate during a game against San Diego on Sunday, April 10. Story had just hit his seventh home run in his first six games.

Masters champion Danny Willett gives a thumbs-up to the crowd after winning the tournament on Sunday, April 10. He is the first Englishman to win the Masters since Nick Faldo in 1996.

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Japanese gymnast Soyoka Hanawa competes on the balance beam Saturday, April 9, during the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships.

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Hockey great Wayne Gretzky looks up at the Rexall Place rafters after the arena hosted its final game in Edmonton, Alberta, on Wednesday, April 6. The Edmonton Oilers are moving into a new building next season.

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Seattle baseball fans hold up signs for pitcher Felix Hernandez as he winds up for a pitch on Sunday, April 10. The "K" stands for strikeout in baseball terminology.

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San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard, center, battles for a rebound with Golden State's Harrison Barnes, left, and Draymond Green during an NBA game in San Antonio on Sunday, April 10. Golden State won the game 92-86, tying the all-time NBA record for wins in a season.

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Kristian Thomas competes on the high bar during the British Gymnastics Championships on Sunday, April 10.

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Tony Ramos, right, wrestles Nahshon Garrett during the U.S. Olympic Trials on Sunday, April 10.

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North Dakota's hockey team celebrates after winning the NCAA championship on Saturday, April 9. It's the eighth national title for the Fighting Hawks, who defeated Quinnipiac 5-1 in the final.

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Kayaker Avery Davis pulls herself from the water Friday, April 8, during the first day of Olympic Team Trials in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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Blake Griffin dunks the ball during an NBA game in Los Angeles on Sunday, April 10.

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MotoGP rider Marc Marquez celebrates with his team in Austin, Texas, after winning the Grand Prix of the Americas on Sunday, April 10.

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Buffalo goaltender Jason Kasdorf, making his NHL debut, takes a puck off the mask on Friday, April 8.

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Pittsburgh first baseman John Jaso, left, reaches for a foul ball during a game in Cincinnati on Saturday, April 9. He was unable to make the diving catch, but he helped up a fan he knocked over on the attempt.

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A flare is thrown onto the field near Palermo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino during an Italian league match in Palermo on Sunday, April 10. The match was stopped twice because of crowd trouble, according to the BBC.

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Cyclists fall on a cobblestoned section of the Paris-Roubaix, a one-day road race in France on Sunday, April 10.

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Cleanthony Early steps on a broadcast table as he tries to save a ball from going out of bounds Sunday, April 10, in New York.

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Matt Priddis of the West Coast Eagles tackles Michael Walters of the Fremantle Dockers during an Australian Football League match in Perth on Saturday, April 9.

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Runners in the Florida Keys begin the Seven Mile Bridge Run on Saturday, April 9.

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Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny reacts to a tackle by West Ham's Andy Carroll during a Premier League match in London on Saturday, April 9.

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Katherine Fulp-Allen, left, wrestles Helen Maroulis during the U.S. Olympic Trials on Sunday, April 10. Maroulis won their weight class and will try to earn an Olympic spot later this month.

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Kansas City Royals mob Terrance Gore after he scored the winning run against Minnesota on Sunday, April 10.

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Panathinaikos' Miroslav Raduljica, bottom, competes against Bryant Dunston, a player from Anadolu Efes, during a Euroleague game in Istanbul on Thursday, April 7.

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Oscar Valdez celebrates his fourth-round victory over Evgeny Gradovich on Saturday, April 9. Valdez improved his record to 19-0 with the win in Las Vegas.

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Gloucester Rugby's John Alofa is tackled by Nic Cudd of the Newport Gwent Dragons during a Challenge Cup match in Gloucester, England, on Saturday, April 9. The Dragons, who play in Newport, Wales, won 23-21 to advance to the semifinals of the European tournament.

Spieth was cruising to back-to-back titles at Augusta with a five-shot lead entering the back nine on that fateful Sunday in April, before his dreams perished around Amen Corner, including a quadruple-bogey seven on the short 12th.

"I'm not taking it very hard," Spieth said at a sponsor's event in Pennsylvania Tuesday, the first time the Texan had spoken in public since the Masters.

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"I have ladies at grocery stores coming up and putting their hand on me and going, 'I'm really praying for you. How are you doing?' And I'm like, 'My dog didn't die. I'm doing OK.' I'll survive. It happens. It was unfortunate timing."

Spieth had led the Masters for seven rounds going back to his wire-to-wire victory in 2015, and was on his way to becoming the first start-to-finish winner two years in a row.

Jordan Spieth amassed a quadruple-bogey seven on Augusta's short 12th in the Masters.

But bogeys on the 10th and 11th and two balls in Rae's Creek on the treacherous 12th dropped him three behind as Briton Danny Willett pounced for his first major title.

As tradition dictates at the Masters, Spieth had to gather himself to present Willett with his green jacket -- not once, but twice, for TV in the Butler Cabin and again on the lawns behind the clubhouse.

Muffling his inner emotions, he even had the grace to speak to the media, but with the perspective of time Spieth insists there are no lingering effects.

"I laugh about it now, I really do," Spieth said.

'No problem'

When Rory McIlroy suffered his Masters meltdown in 2011 -- squandering a four-shot lead going into the final day with a closing round of 80 -- he rebounded with victory in the very next major, the U.S. Open.